Pallet



S. D. LAPHAM Dec. 15. 1953 PALLET 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 10, 1947 S. D. LAPHAM Dec. 15, 1953 PALLET 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 10, 1947 5% y Ml fi WY M m 5 WW WMML S. D. LAPHAM Dec. 15, 1953 PALLET 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 10, 1947 INVENTOR. i/u/vzrfl LAPHAM v-.f. rms, sinc the inventi n e i Patented Dec. 15, 1953 F I E 2,662,7 was !ieer l2- Larb m M rti s? ali? Application manta it, 1547, siiai'i ibl 185,040

is inven ion re a e t art c e hand in pa lets, and in general has for its object the proyision o a rey b p le ormed b itwo I us te cally off nd cr edets o strip me al ean or rails he e m o th up er t W ese ranged to serve as a t cle su por in r i s whi h in turn are supported in spaced relation from t e floor or o her support by he lower se of beams.

A- ui' her ob ect oi the in en ion i th Previsiqn o a pa le o the charac er above described where ss ec ei 'pa rs Q a ieq nt ham 9? h upper s t o hea ts are rran ed to serve a cradles or the ci a ion o drums or othe cylindr a obi ts' an rq h s 9. truth o b ct ma h yemnsiiv sii e by an in u r al lift truc Still another ob ect o the i tention is the aro- .yisionpf apall tof .thecha acter share is s so arran ed hath ithe us o a winter o s h p lets, it becomes possiole o stac and beh l mult p e ti r o drum o ot er obi qts- The invention p sse ses .Q her adrahtaeesu features, some of 'Qh,.Wi1 h t e o'r.eeQine w beset format-len th the ol owin d c ption whereith se orms o he in t o been isel otedzf or i lu tr t o company ns and fo s specification, a e out ined i .fi In a s i rawinss, threeforms ofrtheinvent on re showa bu it is :to he. understood that it'isnot l i tesito such claims may be embod ed .in o heri ol ms Referrin to he dr win s:

Fig. I is a perspec iv iew o .a .n i o art cl handlin pallets embodyin th obis t of my invention; one'oi..whi his shown loaded with tier of drums and. he o her bein show i the processoibeina posit o dover'isa d drums- Fi .2 is a persne tire .Y ew o pair' s et suc a s own i lilis- Lhutwi hthe drum tandinsonend.

F 3 isa dia rammatic ront e ey tio o a pair o pa lets such was shown i i s- 1 and 2 illustrating t e m nner' which two t ers o drumsm y u ta ked in a in line pos ti n- Fi iris a f mentary persoect vei' i w o a pa let .o metyne show i i s: 1 and 2 il u tratin the .mannerminiwh c a dr m upp r thereon mayhemanua ly rem ve he ir i Fi -15 is an i om tri pro ection pf, a modific tion of. the pa et embodyin m i EEB iO lu m ifitai ono the pa let illustrated inrissii, 2, hand 4; r t l gplaims. (CILQZ lQ-QIZM Each of the pallets as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 includes a lower set of parallel, co-planar and spacedstrip metal beams or rails 2|, 22, 2'3 and Z5, and an upper identical set of beams 25, 293, '2'! and 28 Supported thereon and welded at right angles thereto. The distance between the outer beams 2| and 24 of the lower set of beams and between the outer beams 25 and 28 of the upper set of beams is less than the length'of each beam. Prqyided on each end of each of the outer lower beams 2| and 24 at right angles thereto, is'a lower return bend 29. Similarly provided at each end of the outer upper beams "2 5 and 28 is a lower return bend 3D welded to the immediately adjacent lower return bend 29 by means'of gussets 3! provided thereon so as to form a looped corner.

,2z'l and 28 of the upper set of beams, serves as a :cradle torthe reception of a set of drums D, the corresponding pairs of beams 2! and 22; and 23 and .2] of the lower set of beams being arranged to straddle the drums of the lower tier of drums.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, these pallets may be lifted .by an industrial truck by inserting the iorlgs thereof between the inner beams?! and 22,

and 23 and 24 of the lower set of beams.

As shown in Fig. 2, pallets of the character above described can be loaded with up-ended drums, and for this purpose the optimum distance between each pair of drum sup-porting beams shouldbeequal to the cord of a sector of one of the drumsso as to form the most stable support therefor without sacrificing clearance between these beams for the insertion of the lift forks. When the drums are loaded up-ended in this f asl lign; f ourorany lesser number of drums may be picked off the upper tier by using one'or both forks'of a truck as diagrammatically illusrats Asshown inFig. ,3, this type of pallet can also be used tor loading drums in tilted fashion either'in one tier or multiple tiers, and asshown in Fig. '4, the drums may be manually removed from-this type of pallet by upsetting it to an incliried position andsliding it off an edge of the pallet. this connection it is to be noted that in tilting a drum D; over the edge of the pallet, its

lower chime supportedon an upper return bend 11 outwardly extending return bends 29 prevent the pallet from tilting about the lower edge of this beam.

An additional function of the looped or closed corners of my pallet is to enable an operator to rotate the pallet while on the ground. This can be done readily by inserting a fork diagonally into the take off way adjacent one of the pallet corners, and then turning the truck so that its forks slide outwardly along and against the adjacent outer beam.

The pallet shown in Fig. 5 includes an intermediate set of spaced parallel co-planar beams 4!, 42, 43 and d5 welded to and sandwiched between a lower and similar set of beams 46, 47, 43 and 49, and an upper identical set of beams 5|, 52, 53 and 54. Welded to the ends of the inner beams 42 and 43 are return bends or cross-members 55, and similarly welded to the inner beams 41 and 48 and 52 and 53, respectively, are return bends or cross members 56 and 5?. Each of the outer beams il and d5 of the intermediate set of beams is provided at its ends with a return bend 58 formed with upper and lower gussets 59. The ends of outer beams 46 and 55 of the lower and upper set of beams are respectively provided with return bends 5i and 62 connected by vertical cross members 63, these latter cross members being welded to the return bends 5S and gusset 59.

Similarly, the outer beams 49 and 54 are respectively provided at their ends with return bends 64 and 65, connected by vertical cross members 66. These cross members are welded to the adjacent return bends 58 and their gussets 59 so as to form looped corners. Here again the two upper pairs of beams 5i and 52, and 53 and 54 serve as rails or ways for supporting a load such as drums or lug boxes which can be removed therefrom by inserting the forks of an industrial truck in the channels formed by each pair of adjacent beams. As in the case of the modification illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, a pallet of this type and its load may be picked up either by placing the forks of a truck beneath the upper set of beams or beneath the intermediate set of 4 beams. By resorting to this expedient, it is possible to pick the pallet up from either direction. Furthermore, the entire load or any unit thereof can be unloaded from the pallet by inserting the forks between the beams of the upper set of beams.

The pallet illustrated in Fig. 6 includes a lower set of spaced, parallel co-planar beam I I, l2, l3 and M. Formed as right angle extensions of the side beams ii and M are return bends l5, and extending across and welded to the ends of the inner beams 12 and '53 are return bends or cross members l6. Overlying the lower set of beams at right angles thereto is an upper and identical set of beams TI, 13, 19 and 8!. Formed as right angle extensions of the outer beams 11 and. SI are return bends 82, and extending across and welded to the ends of the inner beams 18 and 19 are return bends 83. larly disposed sets of lower and upper beams are held in vertically spaced relation with respect to each other and formed into a rigid integral structure by upstanding steel rods or columns 84 welded to the upper and lower beams. Each pair of adjacent return bends l5 and 82 are formed into an integral looped corner by steel rods or columns 85 butt-welded to the ends thereof. If the beams forming this structure are made of A" strap steel, the rods 84 and 85 can be made conveniently of /2 diameter stock.

These two right angu- This latter type of pallet has all of the advantages of the two modifications previously described, but has the further advantage that it can be lifted by a truck from one of the corners thereof by inserting the forks around any corner thereof between the upper and lower sets of beams.

From the above description it will be apparent that all three modifications illustrated include crossed sets of beams, the upper set of which serves as rails for supporting a load, and from which the entire load or any unit thereof may be picked up. In each pallet the upper rails form a supporting structure having a limited area of contact with its load so as to diminish the friction between the load and its supporting rails during such time as the load is being slid on or off of such rail. The construction of pallets of this type is simple, relatively inexpensive, and due to its skeleton type of construction, its weight is relatively low.

In addition to the functional advantage of these pallets, they have the further advantage of being of simple construction and require no expensive dies for their manufacture.

I claim:

1. An article handling pallet comprising: a first set of spaced, parallel, substantially rigid strip metal beams; and a second and identical set of spaced, parallel, substantially rigid strip metal beams fastened at right angles over and to said first set of beams in edge to edge relation with respect thereto and forming therewith a symmetrical, generally rectangular frame wherein the beams' of either set of beams can be made to serve as article supporting beams and wherein the height of said'beams and the spaces between the beams of either set of beams-are arranged to accommodate the forks of an industrial lift truck whereby said pallet can be lifted by said truck and whereby a load can be placed on or removed from said pallet by means of said truck.

2. An article handling pallet comprising: a first set of spaced, parallel, substantially rigid strip metal beams; and a second and identical set of spaced, parallel, substantially rigid strip metal beams fastened at right angles over and to said first set of beams in edge to edge relation with respect thereto and forming therewith a symmetrical, generally rectangular frame wherein the beams of either set of beams can be made to serve as article supporting beams and wherein the spaces between the beams of either set of beams are arranged to accommodate the forks of an industrial lift truck whereby said pallet can be lifted by said truck and whereby a load can be placed on or removed from said pallet by means of said truck, the length of said beams being greater than the over-all distance across the outer beams of each set of beams.

3. An article handling pallet comprising: a first set of spaced, parallel, strip metal beams; and a second and identical set of spaced, parallel, strip metal beams fastened at right angles over and to said first set of beams in edge to edge relation with respect thereto and forming therewith a symmetrical, generally rectangular frame wherein the beams of either set of beams can be made to serve as article supporting beams and wherein the spaces between the beams of either set of beams are arranged to accommodate the forks of an industrial lift truck whereby said pallet can be lifted by said truck and whereby a load can be placed on or removed from said pallet by means of said truck, the length of said beams being greater than the distance between the outer beams of each set of beams and the crossed ends of said outer beams being provided with a return bend so as to form a pallet having looped corners.

4. An article handling pallet comprising: a first set of four spaced, parallel, strip metal beams; a second and identical set of four, spaced, parallel, strip metal beams fastened to said first set of beams at right angles and in edge to edge relation therewith to form a symmetrical grid structure wherein the over-all distance across the two outer beams of each set of beam is less than the length of said beams; end beams formed integral with and bridging the adjacent ends of the two center beams of each set of beams; and corner beams formed integral with the ends of the outer beams of both sets of beams.

5. An article handling pallet comprising: a first set of a plurality of pairs of spaced, parallel, strip metal beams, and a, second similar set of a plurality of pairs of spaced, parallel strip metal beams overlying and fastened to said first set of beams at right angles and in edge to edge relation thereto and arranged to form a symmetrical, generally rectangular frame; the distance between the beams forming each pair of beams being greater than the distance between each adjacent pair of beams.

6. An article handling pallet comprising: a first set of spaced parallel, strip metal beams; a second and identical set of beams fastened at right angles over and to said first set of beams on one side thereof and in edge to edge relationship thereto; a third and identical set of beams fastened at right angles over and to said first set of beams o the other side thereof in edge to edge relationship thereto; said three sets of beams forming a symmetrical, generally rectangular latticed frame wherein the beams of either said second or third set of beams can be made to serve as article supporting beams and wherein the spaces between the beams of either said second and third sets of beams are arranged to accommodate the forks of an industrial lift truck.

'7. An article handling pallet, as defined in claim 6, wherein the length of each of said beams is greater than the over-all distance across the outer beams of each set of beams and wherein the crossed ends of said outer beams are provided with return bends so as to form a pallet having looped corners.

8. An article handling pallet such as defined in claim 1 and where each beam of said first set of beams is welded to each beam of said second set of beams.

SIDNEY D. LAPI-IAM.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,420,393 Dorsey May 13, 1947 2,430,267 Arthur Nov. 4, 1947 2,446,634 Colt, Jr. Aug. 10, 1948 2,447,556 Bitney Aug. 24, 1948 2,468,026 Boone Apr. 26, 1949 2,542,640 Dixon Feb. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 780,333 France Jan. 29, 1935 

